James T. Licavoli
James T. "Jack White" Licavoli (18 August 1904-23 November 1985) was the boss of the Cleveland crime family from 1976 to 1985, succeeding John T. Scalish and preceding John Tronolone. After a bloody gang war with rebellious capo John Nardi and Irish Mob boss Danny Greene, Licavoli would be arrested and convicted under the RICO Act. Biography Vicentio Licavoli was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904, the son of Italian immigrants. He became a member of the Russo Gang and was arrested after a police chase and shootout in 1926. However, the charges were dropped, and he survived a "one-way ride" near Chicago in 1927. Licavoli then went to Detroit and wrested control of the city's rackets from the Purple Gang, and he served a stint at Leavenworth for bootlegging during Prohibition. Upon his release, he moved to Toledo, Ohio to avoid the heat from the murder of an anti-Mafia radio broadcaster. In 1940, Licavoli was "made" into the Cleveland crime family after a series of robberies, and he quickly established control over illegal gambling and the vending machine industry. During the 1960s, he developed a rivalry with fellow capo John Nardi. Nardi had formed an independent partnership with Irish Mob boss Danny Greene, and, with Licavoli's blessing, Nardi and Greene entered the garbage racket and forced local garbage haulers to join Licavoli's union. In 1976, after the death of John T. Scalish during surgery, Licavoli succeeded Scalish as boss due to his ties with New York City's "Five Families", and he proceeded to implement a "street tax" on Greene's businesses and threaten to take over Nardi's rackets. The two were alienated, and they decided to go to war with Licavoli for control of Cleveland's rackets. In the summer of 1976, there were 36 car bombings, with most of them targeting Licavoli's associates. One of Licavoli's most powerful allies, his consigliere Leo Moceri, was one of the victims of the mob war. In 1977, Licavoli desperately asked Genovese crime family boss Anthony Salerno for help in fighting back against the Irish Mob, and Salerno decided to send hitman Ray Ferritto to help Licavoli. Ferritto turned the tide of the war, murdering Nardi and several of Greene's associates before Greene himself was killed in a car bombing on 6 October 1977. With the deaths of Nardi and Greene, Licavoli became the sole ruler of organized crime in Cleveland. However, Licavoli's lifelong friend John Fratianno, an FBI informant, entered into the Witness Protection Program and closed the Cleveland family's sources from the FBI, preventing Licavoli from finding out about the FBI's activities against the family. In 1982, Licavoli was tried and convicted of federal RICO charges and sentenced to 17 years in prison, and he died of a heart attack in 1985. Category:1904 births Category:1985 deaths Category:Cleveland crime family Category:Americans Category:Italian-Americans Category:Catholics Category:Criminals Category:Crime bosses Category:Mafiosi Category:People from St. Louis Category:People from Missouri Category:People from Detroit Category:People from Michigan Category:People from Cleveland Category:People from Ohio Category:People from Toledo, Ohio